Bed-slat holder.



R. H. BISHOP.

BED SLAT HOLDER. APPLIOATION rum) nso.2,19o4.

904,041 Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

FEE.

ROBERT ll. BISHOP, OF WAKE FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA.

BED-SLAT HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed December 2, 1904. Serial No. 235,190.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. Bisnor, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vake I Forest, in the county of ake and State of I North Carolina, have invented a certain new and useful Bed-Slat Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is a simple and practicable device for fastening slats to the bed-rails or side-boards of bed-steads, enabling the slat to be adjusted and held fixed in any desired location, and also affording a brace for the bedstead; while requiring no tacks, screws or other fastenings for attaching it, and having no tendency to bend, loosen or weaken in use, but on the contrary adapted to hold all the stronger as the weight on the bed is increased.

It consists of a sheet-metal strip or plate, adapted to be applied to the bottom-side of the end of a slat, and having sharp or pointed teeth bent up from its ends to pierce into the slat, and having similar teeth bent down from one of its longitudinal edges to pierce into the ledge or cleat of the bed-rail when the slat is supported in place; substantially as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a frag ment of a bed-rail, designated by the letter A and having the usual cleat or ledge a on its inner side for supporting the ends of the slats. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the end portion of a slat, denoted by B, shown on edge with its bottom-side foremost and having one of my improved fasteners C applied thereto; this fastener being adapted to engage the cleat a of the bedrail when the slat rests thereon. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of said fastener. Fig. 4; is a plan of a sheet-metal blank from which the fastener is formed.

C denotes the illustrated fastener, 0 its end teeth, and c the teeth along its longitudinal edge. The plate is elongated, preferably rectangular, or at least having its opposite ends at right-angles to its longitudinal edge from which the teeth 0 depend. It is stamped or formed from thin sheet-metal of requisite strength and stiffness, preferably sheet steel, an appropriate blank of which is represented in Fig. 4. Its teeth are small and pointed, somewhat similar to saw-teeth; and, being thin, flat and stiff, they readily pierce the wood, particularly if inserted so as to run with the grain, as provided for by the present construction; for all the teeth are bent at right-angles to the surface of the plate, and the teeth 0 are bent up in planes at right-angles to the plane of the teeth 0 which are bent down. Hence, when the plate is applied across the bottom of a slat, and driven home, as represented in Fig. 2, its teeth 0 enter the wood lengthwise of its grain; and if the slat is then placed on the ledge a of the bed-rail, and driven down, the teeth 0 will enter the latter in the same manner or lengthwise of the grain of the wood. It will be noticed that all the teeth, except the intermediate one a, are shown formed with an outer straight edge and an inner inclined edge, being in the form of small right-triangles rather than strictly V-shaped; which simplifies somewhat the cutting of the blank, provides a firmer hold of the teeth in the wood, and also allows a wider separation of the teeth a at the ends of the narrow plate.

In use, one of these devices is applied to each end of the bottom of the slat, in the manner shown in Fig. 2-, with the long edge having the teeth 0 parallel with the end of the slat, which of course is presumed to be at right-angles to the length; and with said toothed longitudinal edge also disposed outward or next to the end of the slat, so that when the slat is placed on the bed-rail and driven down the teeth 0 enter the ledge or cleat a away from its edge, without danger of splitting the wood.

Slats equipped with these devices can be adjusted to any desired locations along the bed-rails, or arranged at any preferred intervals, and then held fixed in position by applying sufficient pressure to embed the teeth in the wood; and the greater the pressure applied or the weight on the bed, the more securely are the fasteners clamped between the slats and bed-rails, and the more firmly are their teeth embedded in the wood. Thus the slats are secured against displacement, while the bedstead is effectually braced by the slats rigidly connecting the bed-rails.

This improved fastener is exceedingly simple and inexpensive, and can be stamped from sheet metal by the simple operation of cutting a blank and bending the teeth. It is most practicable and convenient in use; it requires no tool for applying it, nor screws, tacks or other fastenings for attaching it, nor apertures or other cooperative devices on the bed-rail to engage it; for it is complete in itself. It.afl;'ords a perfect fastener for the slat and a brace for the bed. At the same time, it does not mutilate or disfigure the wood, since the slight incisions made by the thin points or teeth, entering the wood with its grain, are scarcely noticeable. It can 'be put on or removed in a moment, and it has no tendency to weaken or loosen because of the weight on the bed, but on the contrary constantly obtains a firmer hold as before explained. In all of these respects, the device is greatly superior to others which have heretofore been devised for similar purposes, but which have usually been found impracticable or undesirable, because they have lacked the capabilities and advantages above set forth.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States A bed-slat fastener consisting of a relatively long and narrow sheet-metal plate having its opposite ends formed with upwardly-bent small pointed slat-engaging sa\ -teeth, and having one longitudinal edge only formed with a plurality of similar downwardly-bent rail-engaging teeth, there being adjacent side and end teeth at the two corners, and the side and end teeth being arranged 111 planes at right-angles to each other and to the plate, thereby adapting the ROBERT H. BISHOP.

Witnesses W. HOLDING, J. S. HARRISON. 

